5 Takeaways From Opening Weekend

Also, A Look Ahead to Belfast Giants

CARDIFF, WALES – The Cardiff Devils opened their regular season account with a 4 point weekend, home against Glasgow Clan and away to Sheffield Steelers.

Regular Season; 2 – 0 – 0

1. Dominance

Puck possession and zone control was a commanding facet of their game across both matches, extending significant leads early on and attacking the puck each shift. In their first game vs Clan, the Devils launched 61 shots at net, hitting the target with 41 SOG in their 5-2 win.

On the road vs Steelers, two early well taken goals and a third in the start of the second frame made a mountain unscalable this early in the season for the home side.

Much of the first two frames were dominated by the good guys, with the Devils earning a higher produced xG, trailing off in the third as the Steelers tried to salvage their own weekend.

This onslaught and great passing, turnovers and physical intensity created a successful high danger return, even mid danger chances, notching 5 out their 8 scored overall.

2. Depth

A lot of focus on the off-season recruitment was on the effectiveness of the depth forwards contribution. The production last season was lacking, so seeing the goals fire in across the lines in both league and cup action has been a pleasant relief for all involved at the club.

Key stars from the Clan game were Cody Donaghey and Ben Davies with a pair of goals each, Sunday belonged to the revenge of Ryan Barrow and his supporting cast in Jamie Arniel (1 Goal) and Cole Ully (3 apples).

Goal scoring wasn’t the only effective attribute on the weekend, Busch and Duggan sacrificed the body on multiple occasions, as Busch joined fellow centres Davies, Arniel and Martin for an ample 23 SOG, helping to spread the rate of work away from just the top line.

14 points were scored overall this weekend by the depth and middle deck of the team, with Trevor Cox grabbing a sole apple on the top forward line. The blue lines however, were lead from Donaghey in points with 3 (2G, 1A), Crawford had a brace of apples and captain Mark Richardson got his campaign going with another assist.

3. Goal Tending

Ben Bowns was between the pipes across both battles and didn’t disappoint. 64 saves made, putting up 94.07SV%. This was a solid start for the season, which you could see the team grow in confidence each shift.

A perfect start for him, capping a very successful week both on and off the ice for the club legend. This would also set the tone for the tandem, so expect a similar performance from Callum Booth when he gets his start, likely away in Nottingham this Saturday.

4. Defense

All defensive pairs put in a solid effort across the weekend, contributing to blocked shots, with 63% of all efforts so far, even with a skater short on the blue line, when Evan Mosey was sat as a precaution.

The blue liners made their presence known, averaging over 19mins per game as a group, marshalling the play, finding the breakout passes and shutting down production from other teams.

Defense isn’t solely reserved for the guys at the back, as the defensive efforts from the forwards helped to dominate swathes of both games, drawing in penalties, high tensions and combative duels, enjoyed by all spectators.

5. Valuable 4-Point Weekend

Max points to start the season with an away win in Sheffield is just about as a perfect way to kick off the regular season campaign as any. The faltering end to an encouraging pre-season and a mixed bag of results on the opening Challenge Cup run might have brought some anxious feelings to the Vindico Arena, forgivable as always.

The wins both home and away has definitely inspired the group, who look ahead to a tough set of battles, facing off away vs Nottingham Panthers who lost 2-3 vs Storm, then getting an OT win vs Flames.

Belfast are yet to start their regular season campaign, putting up 4 wins in the easiest group for the Challenge Cup, after getting ruined so far in the CHL. They also start away to Guildford, before heading to the Vindico Arena on Sunday.

A Look Ahead to Weekend

Nottingham face another tough test for an unsettled team, that has battled to regain some much needed momentum, although last season despite a dire campaign overall, they bested the Devils 4-2 in regular season games. Can Cardiff Devils lift their curse in the Motorpoint?

Belfast, launch their regular season on the road vs Guildford, of which they would be keen to take away the wins, which would log an unbeaten start in all domestic competitions.

The Devils out battled their early pre-season opponents in CHL warm up action, so would look to continue their 100% start in the league without a doubt. Currently, they lead in PTS%, with the best goal differential, but this doesn’t mean it is a foregone conclusion by any means.

Ones to Watch

Nottingham Panthers – Carl Niell, Otto Nieminen

Belfast Giants – Mark Cooper, Quinn Preston, Ara Nazarian

Projected Stars

Cole Ully – Assists leader (3), joint points leader, expect more to come

Ryan Barrow – 2G, 100% SOG record, 2PPG

Cole Sanford – 16 shots, 10 SOG, eager to put up points